Taxonomy of Data
Concept Acquisition
- R is a calculator that can save objects; but with functions and objects that are far richer than a normal calculator
- R scripts or Qmd files as final draft of code; the console as the sandbox
- Functions generally have input, optional args, and output. Some operate by collapsing a vector into a scalar; others operate on each element of a vector separately.
- Help files are a good way to learn how to use a function.
- Data types are encoded in R’s classes.
- The vector is a data structure used for storing values that share the same type (linked to the notion of a variable).
- The data frame is a data structure that binds together vectors of the same length and is a direct implementation of the general notion of data frame.
Concept Application
- Carry out basic mathematical operations on vectors.
- Create vectors of various types and use them to construct data frames.
- Distinguish between different classes of vectors.
- Form a factor vector and specify the order of its levels.